Carpenter’s Defensive Play Already Among Most Memorable

(Photo Courtesy Sports Illustrated)

October baseball leaves indelible images in the mind. Close your eyes, let the brisk air fill your lungs and think about the Fall Classic. Let your mind wander around the chill of the emerald diamond. Who do you see? Does short term memory take over and flood your thoughts of Albert Pujols going deep three times as he just did tonight? Or do you harken deeper into the past? Kirk Gibson? Mickey Mantle? Joe Carter? Mr. October himself, Reg-gie Reg-gie Reg-gie Jackson? Power is a part of the picture certainly, but it is defense that often provides the best images. Chris Carpenter’s nose dive (left) to snare Albert Pujols’s errant toss and ride the momentum right to the bag in the first inning of Game One is just the latest in a line of lasting World Series snapshots. The following 13 pages highlight the best defensive moments of the past 70 years.